Hey there, everyone, and welcome back to "Mysteries of the Mind", a true crime podcast hosted by myself, Daphne St. Clair-- --And Preston Knight.
Today we're kicking off season three, in which we're discussing a tale known only by the biggest true crime enthusiasts, the case of "Doctor Love."
The "Doctor Love" case is really obscure, because up until now, there wasn't much to discuss.
For those who don't know, Doctor Love was a psychiatrist at a Willow Waters psychiatric hospital in Philadelphia, who ran away with one of her patients in the 1950s, shortly before the hospital shut down.
Because of the controversy, the asylum conveniently lost all materials related to the case, and they took great pains to cover it all up, including the names of everyone involved.
But you guys are in for an exclusive treat, because I managed to get my hands on all the sealed documents, so this season, we are publicly unveiling all of the names, records, and sordid details for the first time ever!
As always, we remind you that true crime can be very intense, and that we do not believe in sugarcoating reality.
Viewer discretion is advised.
Stay tuned for our deep dive on Doctor Love! (theme song begins)
Maya Appavoo presents: Doctor Love, an audio drama.
Episode One: The Doctor Is In.
A full list of themes, topics and content warnings can be found in the episode description below. (footsteps fading out) (door closes, theme song ends)
The "Doctor Love" case is one of those infamous cases that has been so fascinating because of how little we know.
It's been the source of a lot of speculation, and many people have their own theories of what went down.
Mmmmmh.
Here's what was known. A doctor, whose identity was covered up, took special interest in a patient of hers.
This doctor had faced a lot of discrimination and hardships as she was a relatively young female psychiatrist in the 50s, so it's thought that she maybe wanted to "prove herself" by making a breakthrough with this patient.
She's been nicknamed "Doctor Love" because in 1954, she falsified documents in order to discharge her patient, and the two ran away together.
Ooh.
Very little is known about the patient herself.
No name, no diagnosis, nothing.
Huh.
All we know is that her original diagnosis was dismissed by Doctor Love, and that they were working to figure out what was actually going on with her mental health.
Interesting.
When the two ran away together in 1954, it was immediately a huge scandal.
The asylum was already going through a big reorganization, it was about to be turned into a nursing home, but their reputation was destroyed by the news that a doctor and a patient had run away together, especially two women. Mhm.
The asylum covered up as much as they could, in the hopes that things would blow over, but they delayed their reopening, and the dust took too long to settle, with families of other patients bombarding the asylum for an explanation, and the asylum was forced to shut down.
The building still stands in Philadelphia to this day. (Daphne exhales)
I think this case is so interesting, particularly because we don't know what was going on with the patient herself.
So, you know, so many disorders were undiscovered or undocumented at the time, you know, who knows what she could have been struggling with?
See, I'm more interested in the relationship between the doctor and her patient.
This was the 50s, it was not at all socially acceptable for two women to have a relationship.
I know some people wonder if the doctor recognized that her patient wasn't sick, but queer, and broke her out.
Homosexuality has been regarded as a mental illness by many cultures at many times.
You know, I wonder if that was part of why she was sent to the asylum, you know, and something else was discovered during the course of her care.
True enough. I guess we'll see.
I guess we will.
Can I get into how and what I discovered?
Oh, of course. (couch squeaking) So, recently, the last of the board of directors for Willow Waters Psychiatric Hospital passed away, and I was able to get in contact with the family, and explained I had a special interest in the case.
That didn't quite convince them to hand over sealed documents, so...
I told them that I'm a student, and that I needed a unique, niche case study for an assignment in class. (Daphne and Preston laugh)
Good investigative work.
Thank you!
Anyways, I was able to get my hands on pretty much everything.
Not just the medical files, but tapes of sessions, personal journals, news clippings, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Damn, Daphne.
So for the first time ever, we get to reveal the names of Doctor Love and her patient, here on "Mysteries of the Mind". Are you ready?
Are you ready?
Hit us with it.
Doctor Love was actually named
Doctor Audrey Ann Burnett, born 1916, and her patient was Mrs. Hazel Mary Finley, born 1922.
Hazel's original diagnosis, schizophrenia, was given to her in 1941, which she was medicated for until 1950, when she was transferred into Doctor Burnett's care, after her previous doctor retired.
Doctor Burnett quickly took Hazel off those medications and threw out that diagnosis, and spent the next four years working with her on her mystery disorder. (couch squeaking) Now, we've been talking for a long time, and we know that's not what you came for--
Well, I mean, it is.
Right, you know, that's not all you came for.
You want to hear the recorded sessions between Doctor Burnett and Hazel.
And you will, right after these messages. (click) (Doctor Burnett sighs)
Mrs. Finley, nice to see you today.
I don't know if you recall, I'm Doctor Burnett.
We met last week during your last appointment with Doctor--
Nobody calls me Mrs. Finley, anymore.
What do you prefer? Hazel?
Hazel.
All right, Hazel, how are you this morning?
Fine. Same as normal.
That's good to hear. Do you remember our first meeting last week?
Yes.
Do you have any questions for me?
Yes. What makes you think you can fix me?
What do you mean by that?
I've been here since I was 19. Wasn't even let out for my husband's funeral.
I was too unstable.
Doctor Green said I was too aggressive, unpredictable, and fragile.
And that I had made no progress since I arrived.
Still haven't.
That must have been really hard.
Can you tell me more about your relationship to your late husband?
Really? (click)
So that was an excerpt from Doctor Burnett and Hazel's first private session together.
Medical notes, and Doctor Burnett herself, indicate that they had met once before, but this was their first time speaking to one another directly.
It's worth mentioning that Hazel's medical notes up until this point are not up to modern ethical standards.
Do you have them? (pulling out folder) Yes, I do.
Uh... (flipping through papers)
The last copy of her chart before she was transferred to Doctor Burnett's care says, "Mrs. Finley displays intense oppositional tendencies.
She cannot be asked to complete even simple, enjoyable tasks."
Well, I mean, that's not terrible.
Oh, it gets worse. (flipping through papers) "Mrs. Finley is prone to irrational emotional outbursts, many of which seem unfounded in reality."
One of Doctor Green's notes goes on to claim that when Hazel learned of her husband's passing, she was totally still, and barely reacted.
And then the next day, when a nurse went by to give her her medications, she had destroyed everything in the room, including keepsakes from her husband.
Um... (flipping pages) "Mrs. Finley's destructive tendencies and near constant hysterics are indicative of clinical insanity."
Oh, wow. Fascinating. (flipping through papers)
I think that conversation with Doctor Burnett was the first time someone gave her the opportunity to discuss how she actually felt about her husband.
Intense aggression and emotional outbursts were understood to be signs of insanity at the time, but clearly Doctor Green wasn't doing much to help Hazel manage that.
And he refers to Hazel as hysterical.
Which (scoff) has been used against women since the beginning of time, right? Like, of course she wasn't getting better.
Her doctor didn't seem to be on her side.
Huh, no wonder she's so rude to Doctor Burnett at the start of that session.
Yeah, do you want to talk about what you're seeing from Hazel in that clip?
Well, I think it's difficult to ascertain much of anything from just a couple minutes of audio, but my preliminary guess would be depression.
Really?
It was very typical of the 1950s housewife to be, you know, downtrodden or overworked.
You know, intense emotional outbursts or sudden destructive episodes aren't unheard of in depression patients.
Y'know, I think Doctor Burnett giving Hazel the opportunity to speak about it for the first time, y'know, especially asking about her husband, whose death I assume triggered an even worse episode, probably made a huge impact on Hazel.
I wouldn't be surprised if she stopped acting out because of it.
Hmm. Okay, cool. (flipping through papers)
Okay, can I read you Doctor Burnett's notes about their session?
Oh, please do.
So, as a note to the audience, because you can't see these,
Doctor Burnett's notes are barely legible.
Like, this is what they mean when they say chicken scratch. (Daphne and Preston laugh) Anyway, here's what Doctor Burnett had to say about her first appointment with Hazel. (flipping through papers) "Mrs. Finley, Hazel, as she prefers, was pleasant during our session.
She was quiet and irritated at the very start, but then spoke fondly of her late husband, describing him as her dearest friend." Let's skip ahead a bit. "She does show signs of schizophrenia, as Doctor Green indicated in Hazel's chart.
She told me about aggressive outbursts she'd had recently.
Hazel indicated that she had experienced more outbursts recently, as her routine was changing, and preemptively apologized for anything she might say or do irrationally.
Hazel is alarmingly self aware, and demonstrates an ability to reflect upon her actions and can somewhat understand what causes them.
Throughout our session, she rarely looked at me.
While listening to me speak, she would often look at the ground or pick at loose threads on her clothing.
While speaking, she would often look at the wall behind my head.
I have not seen this eye contact aversion or self awareness in other schizophrenic patients, but perhaps this is a personality quirk of Hazel's."
Next couple paragraphs are unreadable, but then... (flipping through pages) "Hazel shows signs of wanting to improve, which tells me she is capable of improvement with the right care." (closing folder)
It sounds to me like for Doctor Burnett, this was more than just a case--
Oh, I agree.
But more a puzzle to be solved.
Huh?
Oh, Daphne.
It's clear that Doctor Burnett saw Hazel's case as a unique challenge.
You know, something to break up the monotony of her other patients.
Hazel's treatment plan was a puzzle, and she wanted to put all the right pieces together.
It's about pride and prestige. Uh, wrong,
This is the start of Doctor Burnett falling in love with her.
She's attentive, she's caring--
She's a doctor. That's her job.
She was paying attention to eye contact!
There's literally no reason for a doctor to look a patient in the eyes, like,
I mean, unless there's, like, something wrong with their eyes. Or... unless that patient is being treated for paranoia or schizophrenia--
Doctor Green didn't pay attention to Hazel's eye contact.
You know, I thought we agreed that Doctor Green was a bad doctor.
We didn't say that.
Okay, what I'm saying is that Doctor Burnett was unusually detail oriented.
Okay, here, let me roll the next clip for you. You'll see. (click)
You seem a little unfocused today. Would you like to wrap up early?
No, I'm all right. I didn't sleep very well.
Is that typical?
I usually have a hard time falling asleep, or I wake up a lot during the night.
Do you have nightmares?
No. I don't recall my dreams often.
Hmm. (scribbling) (Hazel yawns)
Maybe I should try to take a nap.
Sleep is one of the best medicines.
Hazel, are you all right?
Thank you.
What for?
For caring.
Oh, Hazel, you have nothing to thank me for.
You are more than worthy of my attention and care.
To be frank, this has been one of the more pleasant and interesting parts of my day. (Hazel and Doctor Burnett laugh)
I'll leave you to it. Have a good afternoon, Hazel.
Same to you. (click)
See?
Okay, whatever.
Um, are there any more of Doctor Burnett's notes on that session?
Oh, yes. (flipping pages, Preston sighs)
Okay. (Daphne clears her throat) "In speaking about her late husband, Hazel would rapidly go from wistful to devastated. Hazel has been alone for the past six years.
She indicated growing aggressive outbursts after the passing of her husband that caused her previous care team to recommend extensive privacy.
Hazel is wary of new people, but seems eager to form a meaningful connection.
In my professional opinion, her grief and loneliness has exacerbated her other symptoms." (folder closes)
The psychology of grief was only really studied in the 80s and 90s, so I don't blame Doctor Burnett for being unaware of this, but to me, it sounds like Hazel was stuck in the anger stage, you know, likely due to her depression.
You know, most psychology texts state that a mentally sound and secure person moves through the five stages of grief within one year, you know, reaching acceptance around 14 to 18 months after the death of a loved one.
Really?
Oh, yeah. You know, so Hazel being stuck in the anger stage, so many years after the death of her husband, a death she should have started to accept the moment he was-- you said he fought in World War II?
Yes, he was drafted. (couch squeaking)
You know, the moment he was drafted, she should have started to mourn, and grow to accept his eventual passing.
You know, that's life, that's war, but Hazel seemed ill equipped for that inevitability.
Yeah, I don't think her previous doctor helped her process her anger at all.
No, but therapy isn't the job of a psychiatrist. Clearly though,
Doctor Burnett was willing to do that for Hazel.
Mhm. (flipping pages)
Uh, so, I also wanted to bring up that in Doctor Burnett's notes of that session, she points out that Hazel describes her late husband as her dearest friend. So, do we think--
I think all marriages should be with someone you describe as your best friend.
Do we think that that was a part of why
Hazel had such a difficult time coping with his passing?
He'd committed her to an asylum, and was, to my understanding, at least, her only remaining family.
She lost her best friend, her husband, and her entire family all at once.
Yeah. You know, I think that feeling of loneliness can really exacerbate other... troubles.
Oh, speaking of, let's listen to this next clip. (Daphne clears her throat) Okay, this one is from their next session.
There it is. (click) --demoralizing, I think, to feel so separated from the other patients. (Hazel sips water)
Mhm.
I always feel like I'm on the outside looking in.
I felt like that in my marriage, when we would go spend time with my in laws.
I never fit in, and never was able to understand why they thought certain habits of mine were so strange.
Such as? (running in hallway, getting closer) Well, I-- (knock on door, door opening) Sorry to interrupt.
Doctor Burnett, you're needed for a patient emergency.
I'm sorry, Hazel, we'll have to pick this up later. (zipping)
What? No, no. (Doctor Burnett packing up) No, you can't go right now.
Our appointment’s until noon, and it's only 11:30.
I'm sorry, Hazel--
No, you can't interrupt!
Why is that patient more important than me?
She’s not more important, dear, she's just-- Be quiet!
Hazel. wha-- Hazel-- (struggling) --no! (glass shattering) (struggling, grunting) (Hazel crying)
Please. Hazel, we-- --ow! (struggling) Permission to sedate?
Give her 20 ccs.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! (wince) No... (click)
Welcome back. So, that was a pretty intense clip.
Yeah. It really makes you feel for her.
I think having your doctor ripped away from you in the middle of a,
I mean, pretty vulnerable moment, would be--
Yeah, that'd be jarring for anyone, you know, especially someone like Hazel.
Well, and I think especially if your doctor clearly really likes you.
It's like-- I don't know if that's the case.
Well, I've already been over all this information, and this is your first time hearing it, so... (Preston huffs) Go ahead.
As I was saying,
I think coming off of their last session, where Hazel had basically just been told she's Doctor Burnett's favorite patient, it's--
That's not... (Preston sighs)
I think it's normal to be hurt.
But she did have an extreme reaction.
She did.
Again, you know, I think Hazel was suffering from an intense depression, definitely intensified by her isolation and grief, and she was forming a connection for the first time in a long time, it sounds like. Oh, 100%.
Hazel was opening up essentially about her struggles with finding real connection or a sense of belonging.
You know, Doctor Burnett had told her,
I think to help her ease into their therapeutic relationship, that she was pleasant and interesting--
I don't-- --and let me finish, Daph.
I think that Hazel's sense of safety, which was new, was interrupted.
And she clearly doesn't have great coping skills.
So, when that's interrupted, she has a meltdown.
Is that typical of schizophrenia?
I mean, you know, I guess so.
Or depression?
I think it's typical of someone who spent the last decade isolated in an asylum with no friends or family, to be candid.
But, yeah, I think her depression made her a bit hysterical.
Alright, well, what's actually important here is what happened in their next session. (click)
How are you today, Hazel?
Did you sleep well?
I slept like I was sedated.
I'm very sorry about that, Hazel.
I think giving me a child's water cup is awful.
Yes, I know.
I'm sorry, Hazel.
I thought it best to make sure there were no hazards for our session today. (Hazel sighs)
You know, Hazel, I think you show incredible promise.
I've asked for a lighter caseload, fewer patients, so I can spend more time working with you.
I want to give you the best care possible.
You did?
I did.
It'll be a couple weeks before I'm able to actually spend more time with you, as I wrap up on those cases, and get patients transferred over to other doctors.
But, starting at the end of the month, we'll be able to spend more time working with each other.
How does that sound, Hazel?
That sounds very good.
I'm sorry I flew off the handle.
I don't know why I do that.
I didn't want to hurt you.
That's okay, Hazel. We'll get to the bottom of it.
Thank you.
You're most welcome. (click)
Doctor Burnett's notes from this session also state, (page flips) "Hazel was very fidgety when I entered the room.
Her nails had been picked down to stubs, and she had several small braids in her hair.
She once again avoided eye contact with me, preferring to look behind me or at the floor.
However, fascinatingly, once I informed her I’d requested a lighter caseload, she calmed down. Her hands stilled, and she made eye contact with me for just a second."
Interesting. "I believe this is something more interesting, or rather, more complicated than schizophrenia.
Hazel has mentioned no hallucinations or delusions, but displays many other symptoms.
I intend on moving forward with a med review."
You see, this is where I think Hazel's behavior has more to do with what she's been through and what she's been dealing with up until this point.
I disagree. (couch squeaking)
You heard her voice get all soft and thankful in that clip, you know, I think she got possessive (loud couch squeaking) when Doctor Burnett had to leave, and, you know--
Oh my god, stop moving. People are gonna think you're farting.
Oh, gosh. (loud couch squeaking) Okay. No. Ow. Sorry, folks. That's our old ass couch. Um, what was it? Oh, I just think a valuable part of the psychoanalysis is how she feels towards her doctor.
Okay. No. Ow. Sorry, folks. (loud couch squeaking)
That's our old ass couch.
Um, what was I--? Oh,
I just think a valuable part of the psychoanalysis is how she feels towards her doctor.
Alright, well, you know, I guess you've already heard most of this, so
I'll just give you my thoughts as they come up.
Thank you. I do think you have an interesting perspective on this.
I mean, yours is alright too, I guess. (Daphne and Preston laugh)
Okay, so I think that this clip in particular is what could have kicked off their eventual romance.
Eh, I could see that, you know, it seems like there's a fondness on both sides.
I do think that Hazel is mostly appreciative because it reinforces that feeling of safety and security.
Yeah, I think she feels a real connection, and for the first time in a long time, and, you know, being told that Doctor Burnett is going to invest more time into her, it-- Oh, it must have been a huge relief after so much abandonment.
Oh, for sure.
Well, that does it for us this week.
Please join us next week as we continue unraveling this story.
Maybe I'll even speculate on their attachment styles.
Oh, my gosh, please do.
We'll also be getting into Hazel's first depressive episode under Doctor Burnett's care.
Oh, that'll be fascinating.
I've been Daphne, our hopeless romantic.
And I've been Preston, our psychology nerd.
Thanks for tuning in to "Mysteries of the Mind."
We'll see you all next week.
Bye!
Doctor Love is written and directed by Maya Appavoo, and produced by Maya Appavoo and Monica Gate.
Starring the voice acting talents of Madeline Harsh as Daphne,
Jacob Martin as Preston,
Abby McDougall as Doctor Burnett, and Emily Lizotte as Hazel.
Additional voices by Cleo Birch.
Post-production management by Monica Gate.
Sound design for this episode by Ken Kosowick, and music by Ken Kosowick.
The full list of credits and disclaimers can be found in the episode description, or on our website, appoova.ca/portfolio/doctorlove.
Follow us on social media! We are @doctorlovepod on everything.
Doctor love is supported by the Edmonton Arts Council, and the City of Edmonton.
Thank you for listening. (footsteps fading out) (door closing)